OTTAWA -- The La Salle County Land Owners finished first in the race to place two advisory referendums on the November ballot, thus blocking -- for the moment -- the La Salle County Board's effort to place two of its own referendums on the ballot.

The county board's intention, revealed Tuesday, to authorize two advisory referendums at its meeting Thursday energized members of the La Salle County Land Owners Association to finish and file petitions for their own two referendum questions before the full county board could act.

Even so, after comments, the board, on split votes, authorized its own two referendums.

With the number of county referendums limited to three, and the county board's half cent sales tax referendum already on the ballot, the other two spots were up for grabs on a first-come, first-placed basis.

The Land Owners got there first. But if objections are filed against the Land Owners referendums and are upheld by the county's electoral board, one or two county referendums may still end up before voters in November.

The Land Owners, who had originally planned to file their referendum petitions on the Aug. 21 deadline, immediately scrambled to call in all their petitions from volunteer circulators and had them assembled for filing by early Thursday, said President Ralph Coyle.

Wednesday, Coyle sought permission to address the county board's Rules and Legislation Committee before it met at noon Thursday, an hour before the full county board meeting, to recommend advisory referendums concerning formation of a storm water management planning committee and erection of a county veterans "monument or memorial building." Committee Chairman Don Jordon, D-Streator, told Coyle he would be allowed to speak only after the committee had voted.

After the vote, Coyle, a combat veteran of the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division, told the committee he was offended by the use of a veterans memorial as a ruse to block a citizen-initiated petition.

But in the meantime, the committee's authorizing votes had signaled Steve Thomas of the Land Owners to leave the committee room and walk to the county clerk's office to file petitions for referendums on whether there should be countywide zoning and whether the county supervisor of assessments -- now an appointed official -- should be elected.

Those petitions were accepted by County Clerk Mary Jane Wilkinson at 12:18 p.m.

At the county board meeting, the county's proposed referendums faced rough going.

Jack Leininger, R-Marseilles, failed in attempts to postpone consideration of both advisory referendums. Both times the board voted roughly 3-1 not to stall action.

Like Coyle, Leininger was critical of the veterans monument proposal motivation.

"Putting this on the veterans back I think is terrible. As a combat-wounded disabled veteran I'm going to tell you something: it doesn't do any good for me."

Leininger said greater support of the county's Veterans Assistance Commission would be of more service to local veterans.

County Board Chairman Glen "Joe" Dougherty, D-Ottawa, the proponent of the veterans memorial referendum, noted he has for two years favored the creation of a veterans park with flagpoles, walking trails and picnic pavilions on land near the county governmental center in Ottawa.

He just became aware of the referendum option, he said, a couple of weeks ago. The referendum could have been binding, he added, if it had been filed with 200 signatures.

"I didn't think it would be appropriate for me to get 200 signatures at this time, and it was too late to get the veterans involved."

Leininger scoffed at the explanation.

"This is just another sham for you to try to keep those other petitions off the ballot."

Later in the meeting, George Gruenwald, D-La Salle, said no political maneuvering was involved.

"If we were going to oppose referendums by blocking them we would have done it a long time ago."

But Randy Freeman, R-Lostant, predicted the board's actions would be costly.

"We're the ones that are going to lose in the long run -- this county board.

"We've lost a lot in the last five or six years as far as respectability and the people believing that we're going to do what is right."

The veterans memorial advisory referendum passed 22-6. The storm water committee advisory referendum passed by 18-12.

Several board members said they favored the concept of a storm water management committee but that it not yet been adequately explained to the public.

"I'm afraid that if we would submit this to the people in the form of an advisory referendum and the people did not fully understand the issue they would vote it down," said Bill Johnson, D-Peru.

Dougherty said he had already tried to interest local officials in the project, but of 39 letters sent to municipalities and other organizaitons, he had received only three responses: one from the La Salle County Farm Bureau, one from a private citizen and one informal comment from the mayor of Streator.

"If there's no interest in this it's just going to die. That's why we're voting the question."